The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and similar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in this field.
Early computers were stand-alone units, which accessed and processed only local databases using local computer programs. Today, however, modern computers are often networked, thus providing client computers on a network access to a variety of resources, including data, computer programs, hardware devices (including storage drives and printers), etc. This resource availability is especially prevalent with the advent of the Internet, World Wide Web, private intranets and extranets, etc., which provide access to web pages, databases, programs, and similar resources. Development of software for modem computers, once a task performed by a single programmer or a small group of programmers, is now performed by teams of developers and associated technical writers that document the software.
Electronic meetings (e-meetings) are become a popular means of communication in today's business world. Each e-meeting includes a “moderator” or “owner” who may delegate capabilities to other users. Those with skill in the art will appreciate that current e-meeting design and methodology creates several difficulties.
For example, if the moderator does not attend the e-meeting at the scheduled time, the e-meeting cannot proceed. Also, if the moderator becomes unavailable (e.g., network difficulties, hardware problems, or the moderator is called to another meeting, etc.) before the moderator can delegate capabilities to other users, the e-meeting becomes stalled. If the e-meeting is scheduled by a system administrator who inadvertently lists themselves as the moderator of the meeting, the intended moderator of the meeting cannot perform any actions within the meeting until the administrator changes the settings of the e-meeting. Also, if the original moderator delegates capabilities to another user, leaves the meeting, and subsequently returns, the new moderator must manually re-delegate the capabilities back to the original moderator.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method of implementing meeting moderator failback and failover to address the above mentioned limitations of the prior art.